Amy Speace: That Kind of Girl

A new Pledge Music campaign is under way to fund the production and release of he new album, That Kind of Girl.

Readers may remember a similar campaign to fund How to Sleep in a Stormy Boat back in 2012. The campaign was a success and the album was a very worthy outcome.

At The Sage's Americana Festival, 2012

To support the campaign simply head here, choose a suitable level of support - complete with reward - and follow the simple instructions.

For further details about Amy and her music, head for her official website.

Nine Below Zero

Nine Below Zero

Old Town Hall, Gateshead

7.11.2014

Nine Below Zero are back - with a difference!

Original drummer Stix Burkey has temporarily rejoined the band as they tour to celebrate 35 years of the classic line up, the very one that famously guested on The Young Ones all those years ago.

The set list included all the classic tracks from early albums Third Degree and Don't Point Your Finger, such as One Way Street, Doghouse and 11+11.

With the band on terrific form - and Stix pounding away on the drums like a man making up for a couple of decades of lost time - there were many highlights, but my favourite of the evening was Ridin' On The L&N, which started like a train way off in the distance and ended with it driving itself into one's head with great force and then out again. All four members of the band were given plenty of room for devilish solos throughout this lengthy rendition. A very powerful journey.

The encore featured a further for or five songs - it was difficult to keep count, as the pace was lightning-fast and left little time for reflection. One of the great things about a Nine Below Zero gig is that they are all clearly having just as much fun as the rest of us.

Head for the official website for the latest Nine Below Zero tour dates and news.

T-Rextasy at Billingham Forum

T-Rextasy

Billingham Forum

6.11.2014

T-Rextasy made a swift return to Teesside following their appearance in Middlesbrough back in May.

We always knew what to expect from T. Rex - catchy hits, riffs, rock 'n' roll, boogie and a whole lot of fun; T-Rextasy keep up the tradition and tick all of the boxes. People were up and dancing from very early on in the first half of the show (by the way, as usual it was a prompt start at 7.30 pm with no support, so make sure you get to a T-Rextasy concert in good time).

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The tempo didn't drop; the hall crackled with energy throughout both sets as hit after hit was unleashed: Jeepster, I Love To Boogie, Baby Strange and New York City to name but four.

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It was great to see fans of all ages - at least, from early teens to early 70s by the look of it - simply having a wonderful time.

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T-Rextasy tour almost constantly - the dates are regularly updated on their website - so there's no excuse not to get out and see them in Easy Action.  Get it On!

Kathryn Tickell and The Side

Kathryn Tickell and The Side

The Arc, Stockton-on-Tees

4.11.2014

Kathryn Tickell and The Side combine two classical musicians and two from the folk world. The fusion of styles produces an extraordinary sound, powered by fiddle and Northumbrian pipes (Kathryn) in conjunction with the glorious weaving of cello (Louisa Tuck), accordion (Amy Thatcher) and harp (Ruth Wall). It all sounds a shade on the unlikely side but it works - magnificently.

It all made for one of my most unusual Arc experiences. The set list featured just one song (Queen of Pleasure) amid a forest of instrumentals and was augmented by a brace of performances of clogg dancing and a couple of unexpected twizzles of the cello.

Prime cuts from the recently-formed group's (self-titled) debut album made up a solid portion of the set list. It was all too easy to allow oneself to slip away into another world while listening to the beautiful, ethereal music.

Find out more about Kathryn Tickell and The Side over at their official website. 

Further Reading

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The new issue of CHESS Magazine (November 2014) includes my reviews of Gambit's Chess Studio App and the books Johannes Zukertort: Artist of the Chessboard by Jimmy Adams (New in Chess) and The Modern Bogo by Dejan Antic and Branimir Maksimovic (New in Chess).

Neil Sedaka

Neil Sedaka

The Sage, Gateshead

29.10.2014

Neil Sedaka played a very impressive show at The Sage earlier this week. Just one man and his piano...and some prime cuts from his 900 songs, of course.

Before he emerged, a large video screen showed clips of other stars singing his songs and the range was incredible: Frank Sinatra, Neil Diamond, Patsy Cline, Elvis, The Carpenters...the list just seemed to go on and on.

He has been writing hit songs for an incredible 60 years and, at 75 years of age, still shows no sign of stopping. He did take a break for a decade though - at the same time as The Beatles emerged and cornered the market.

Hit followed hit: Oh, Carol, Calendar Girl, Amarillo, Solitaire and Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen merely formed the tip of a very large iceberg of songs.

All three levels of The Sage looked packed out and the audience couldn't resist breaking into song on numerous occasions.

Neil Sedaka gave three encores and seemed genuinely thrilled by back on the stage, performing his songs and connecting with his fans.

Midge Ure: Return to The Arc

Midge Ure

The Arc, Stockton

25.10.2014

The weekend brought a relatively swift return to The Arc for Midge Ure, following up his sold-out show of last year. Arriving on stage with a cry of ''It's good to be back!'' he launched into his latest solo acoustic set to the delight of a particularly animated audience.

There was the occasional piece of banter - quite often at the expense of X-Factor - and a little bit of shouting out from the audience too. ''****ing **ll!'' bellowed one vocal local yokel in praise after Midge hit the heights with Call of the Wild. ''Are you a critic?'' he replied; ''I have reviews like that...''

Anecdotes punctuated the songs, such as the one about the German interviewer who asked, ''Who is Lorraine?'' in reference to mis-heard lyrics from Fade to Grey (''Feel Lorraine'' instead ''Feel the rain...''). ''I couldn't imagine Steve Strange singing that...''

Midge invited everyone to join in with singing The Voice - ''but only if you know it'' - and later on he repeated the invitation for Hymn. Elsewhere he jokingly bemoaned the fact that despite ''desperately, desperately trying not to write love songs'' he often somehow ends doing so anyway. This was a precursor to the double hit of Light in Your Eyes and Guns and Arrows. 

It wasn't all about love, of course. It's interesting to note how the (unlikely) Ultravox song All Fall Down appears to be even more relevant now than it was back in the 1980s. There was even a very rare outing for Do They Know It's Christmas?, albeit a little early in the year.

Set List

Waiting Days
Call of the Wild
Breathe
Brilliant (dedicated to Jack Bruce, who died on this day)
Fade to Grey
No Regrets
The Voice
Light in Your Eyes
Guns and Arrows
Lament
Man of the World
Fragile
Vienna
All Fall Down
Become
Hymn
One Small Day
Dancing With Tears in My Eyes
Love's Great Adventure
If I Was

Encore

Cold Cold Heart
Do They Know It's Christmas?

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If anything, the set list - strong as it was, with it's mix of classic Ultravox, solo and cover songs - was a shade on the safe side, with just two songs from the new album, Fragile (the title track and Become) and even then they had to stick very close to Vienna in the set list, almost as if they were afraid to stand up alone. We could have done with more of the new songs, especially as Fragile has been in the pipeline for 12 years.

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Come back soon, Midge!